The Prince & I
by WhiteWisteria
Summary: AU. Prince Natsume had just been issued a verdict by the King: Marry or forfeit the throne. Now he faces the fate of countless balls, simpering ladies, and a very confused and clumsy princess... Natsume and Mikan pairing.
1. Prologue: The Verdict

**The Prince & I**

王子与我

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**. Summary . **

**AU. Prince Natsume had just been issued a verdict by the King: Marry or forfeit the throne. Now he faces the fate of countless balls, simpering ladies, and a very confused and clumsy princess... Natsume and Mikan pairing.**

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**Author's note: Written solely for my pleasure...I simply adore castles, evil princes, clumsy princesses, sadistic advisors and bubbly Kings :') Take note that this is an Alternate Universe fic**

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**Disclaimers: Gakuen alice does not belong to me...I am just subjecting the characters to my cruel sadistic imagination.**

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_**Oh, what one would do for a crown.**_

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**Prologue: The Verdict**

_Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away, there lived a prince whose fate had just been sealed by the King..._

"WHAT!" The furious roar ripped through the corridors of the castle, freezing every worker in their place.

In the royal meeting room, a young man with dark purple hair and features to die for (insert fainting ladies here) stood up and slammed his fist on the glass tabletop, his red eyes simply spitting fire at the blond haired man, who happened to be his cousin and king, seated at the other end of the table.

"What. Did. You. Just. Say?" He bit out each and every word one by one in a low hiss.

If looks could kill, the ministers in the room was certain that the King, who was the unfortunate recipient of the venomous glare, would have been drowned, quartered a dozen times over, eaten by alligators and thrown into the very depths of hell itself.

"You have to marry within a month or the throne will be forfeited!" King Narumi announced brightly, unabashed by the warning and worried looks his ministers were shooting him and by the rising heat seemingly emitted by the Prince himself.

A collective groan almost simultaneously rose from all the occupants, who begin fearing whether they will have a King left at the end of the day.

"Who gave you permission to do that?" The prince snarled.

Everyone in the room froze and waited with baited breath for their King's answer.

"I did!" Came the unintelligent crow from the King, who sat there with a satisfied smile.

"You see, I found this extremely helpful book from the library..." He rummaged around his robes before producing a yellow book. There, emblazoned across the cover, were the words _The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Kingdom For Dummies._

A nerve leaped up onto the prince's forehead and those nearest to him shrank back visibly from the furious man in fear of their lives.

"You idiotic, gay maniac." With those cutting words, the Prince left, slamming the double doors behind him with enough force to shake the very stable rafters of the castle.

In the silence that ensued, everyone turned in unison to the King with almost pitying looks.

The King was still staring in confusion at the doors, the offending book in his hands.

"What? What did I do? I was just following Chapter Fourteen: How to spice up your royal life. Neh neh Jinno-kun, what did I do wrong?" The King turned to his exasperated advisor when no one would answer him.

"Sometimes, he just doesn't get it." One of the cabinet ministers sighed as he walked out.

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**Will Prince Natsume accept his fate or will King Narumi die at the hands of a furious prince before his time is up? All will be known in the next chapter!**


	2. Balls, ladies and lack of Brains

**The Prince & I**

王子与我

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**. Summary . **

**AU. Prince Natsume had just been issued a verdict by the King: Marry or forfeit the throne. Now he faces the fate of countless balls, simpering ladies, and a very confused and clumsy princess... Natsume and Mikan pairing.**

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**Disclaimers: Gakuen alice does not belong to me...I am just subjecting the characters to my cruel sadistic imagination.**

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_All for the sake of throne...Oh the torture._

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**Chapter one: Balls, ladies and lack of brains**

_A fortnight later after the very eventful once upon a time, we find our dear princeling stuck in the first of the many to come balls cum match-making sessions and contemplating the various ways to commit murder on his sick cousin a.k.a. King Narumi..._

Dress to kill in a light blue tunic (at least, according to his valet. Natsume couldn't care less.) with a jeweled sword hanging by his side and a scowl on his face, Prince Natsume, the hero of our tragic tale, finds himself suppressing the urge to scratch his neck.

Damn but the cloth was itchy.

Natsume mentally sighed as he noted the winding line of aspiring princess-wannabes lined up in front of the dais he was seated at, waiting for their turn to meet him.

He was so going to kill Narumi when he gets the chance to.

A soft giggle distracted his wandering attention back to the female beside his side, who was fluttering her long lashes (Natsume idly wondered if they were fake) furiously at him in an attempt to flirt.

"Something in your eye?" Natsume asked in a voice far to pleasant to be called, well, pleasant.

Behind him, the reluctant but appointed "match maker" Lord Jinno (tortured and beleagured advisor to King Narumi) hissed discreetly to Prince Natsume, "Be polite."

Natsume promptly ignored him.

Beside him, the girl blinked at him in incomprehension in her vacant blue eyes. Apparently, the jibe had not been able to penetrate her thick skull. She seemingly pondered on it some more before she dismissed it and proceeded to smile at him again, lashes aflutter.

Natsume glared at Lord Jinno, who quickly hastened the girl away with a loud" Next!"

The pink-gowned girl who sat next to him immediately reminded Natsume of a flamingo, in looks as well as intelligence.

"Isn't the weather lovely your highness?" She cooed out, smiling at him flirtatiously.

Natsume cast an ironic look at the window.

It was raining hard enough to flood the entire country.

"I am sure it is. For someone with an eye-sight deficiency." He added on for good measure. One could practically make jell-o out of the thickness of the sarcasm in his tone.

"Next!" Lord Jinno hastened the girl away before she could be slaughtered by the ill-meaning Prince.

And Natsume found himself nearly blinded by the glittering jewels embedded in the female's dress.

"Your highness." She smiled.

And Natsume found himself staring at the gold teeth in her mouth.

As soon as she had left, Natsume turned and pierced the unhappy looking advisor with a look.

"They are all sorely in need of an human organ called the 'brain"." He drawled out in disgust, arching a dark brow at the man as though daring him to say otherwise.

The man, smart as he was, simply heaved a sigh and pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.

As though in accord, both men turned simultaneously and glared at the King who was seated comfortably far away at the balcony above, directly in their sight from the dais they were seated at.

Almost as if he could feel the power of their glare, King Narumi turned his head and winked at them cheerily before blowing them an air-kiss, which both men promptly dodged with disgust.

"How much longer must I keep this up?" The prince demanded as he flicked a disinterested crimson look at the ladies waiting to make his acquaintance.

"Until Princess Sumire of the Sakura Kingdom arrives, Your highness." Kokoroyumi, the then silent right-hand man to the prince piped up, a small smile on his face. Then again, there was never a time when one would see Koko without a smile.

King Tsubasa and Queen Misaki of the neighboring Sakura Kingdom had agreed to a match between their esteem daughter and Prince Natsume, which Natsume had been violently against and which Narumi had agreed to without consulting him.

With much constraint, Koko had managed to plead with the prince to meet up with the chit because he could still turn the offer down if he didn't like her.

"And when is that?" He asked with a long-suffering sigh.

"I am sure you will know when she comes." The new voice interjected cheerfully, eliciting a soft snort of laughter from Koko.

Natsume didn't even have to look up to know that Lord Ruka, Viscount of Elbough, Earl of Kensington, Duke of Thais and his childhood friend, had arrived.

One only had to hear the ladies sigh and have a few faint to know that.

Alas, that was what both men had to endure daily, much to their disgust. This is especially so for Ruka when he smile.

One infatuated lady had even gone to the extent of waxing lyrical about the "beautiful sunshininess of Lord Ruka's smile", something much of an embarrassment to Ruka and of much amusement to Prince Natsume, much to Ruka's chagrin.

It was also something the Prince had never let the blonde forget.

"How goes the beautiful sunshininess of your smile Ruka?" This was asked with a smirk on the prince's face as Ruka took the seat that had been hustled up for him by the servants.

"Shut up." Lord Ruka retorted with a dark scowl. "Speak for yourself." He retorted as he returned a smile an acquaintance gave him.

On cue, a few ladies fainted, having been exposed to the otherworldliness of Lord Ruka's golden smile.

"Jesus." Natsume muttered in disgust under his breath as he saw the sight.

"Stop smiling." He commanded the unwitting Ruka, "You are messing up the place."

"Huh?" Came the unintelligible answer from the young lord before he spotted the sight of the fainted few. " Right." he mumbled and promptly wiped the smile off his face.

"Sometimes, I get this feeling that they see me as a blank bank cheque with legs." Lord Ruka grumbled to Natsume, who snorted.

"I have the added advantage of a shiny crown to top it off."

"You are right." Ruka nodded to another acquaintance, remembering this time to keep the smile off his face.

Still, someone or two fainted with a rather impressive 'thud' onto the marble floor.

"You should be exiled from this Kingdom." Natsume muttered under his breath.

"Speak for yourself, your highness." The blonde retorted.

Before the verbal war could continue, a loud announcement from the heralds stopped them.

"Announcing the arrival of her royal Highness, Princess Sumire of the Sakura Kingdom!"

"Good vocals." Lord Ruka complimented approvingly.

"And they say hell comes in the form of a woman."

Hell indeed, hath cometh.

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**A/n: I am alive! Lol...no really..finished this chapter first so posted it :)**

**Hope you guys will enjoy this! **


	3. Arrival of Her Royal Highness

**The Prince & I **

王子与我

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**For** Rose Velvet**, whose reviews are a source of inspiration for this story.**

**For all those who have reviewed, Thank you :')**

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**. Summary . **

AU. Prince Natsume had just been issued a verdict by the King: Marry or forfeit the throne. Now he faces the fate of countless balls, simpering ladies, and a very confused and clumsy princess... Natsume and Mikan pairing.

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**Disclaimers: Gakuen alice does not belong to me...I am just subjecting the characters to my cruel sadistic imagination. **

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_sometimes, all it takes is a good kick to the shin. _

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**Chapter two: Arrival of Her Royal Highness Princess Su-er Mikan **

The day had started out deceptively beautiful, with fluffy clouds that floated across the blue sky lazily without a care in the world, the sun had taken refuge behind the clouds and birds were chirping a happy song on trees all around.

The trip to the neighboring Hyuuga kingdom had started off without a hitch, with both Princesses doing their routine sniping (Sumire-hime) and cowering (Mikan-hime who was serving as company for her sister) as the carriage bumped down the road happily.

It had gone along well enough until Sumire saw _him_.

And decided to elope.

Now let us recap a bit the events that led up to this very shocking royal affair…

_"Ask the driver to stop. I need a break." Princess Sumire waved an airy hand gesture at her sister before continuing to preen herself in the reflection provided by the carriage window._

_"Why can't you do it by yourself?" This was muttered with a pout as Mikan shot her sister an unhappy look._

_It had always been Mikan this, Mikan that, Mikan everything until Mikan was beginning to feel like her older sister's personal slave._

_"What did you say?" The menacing voice was accompanied by a sudden darkening of the atmosphere and little lightning sparks around the oh so lovely princess Sumire._

_Mikan gulped and squeaked out," Nothing. As you wish sister dear." before immediately turning and tapping onto the little connecting glass pane that allowed the driver access to its passengers and conveying the little message to the driver._

_The carriage pulled to a jarring stop a few meters away and Sumire got up, her voluminous skirts sweeping as she stepped out of the open door with aid from royal servants the King and Queen had sent along to follow them, Mikan a few steps behind._

_Then, _he _came._

_A tall, strapping man on a white horse, his indigo hair shaved close to his head, eyes a shade darker than his hair, stopped in front of Sumire, leaped down his horse in a smooth gesture and bowed deeply to Sumire._

_"My Lady," He intoned in a deep voice, an enigmatic smile on his lips._

_And Mikan saw the exact moment Sumire fell head-over-heels in love._

_First, there was the smile that slowly crept over her face. _

_Mind you, never in her entire seventeen years of existence had Mikan seen that kind of goofy smile gracing her sister's face and now, simply one minute in this suave stranger's attention, it appeared._

_Simply suffice to say that at this moment, Mikan's jaw detached itself and hit the ground._

_Second, the dreamy gaze that came over Sumire's eyes._

_Shocking._

_Thirdly...she giggled. Softly behind her glove._

_But. SHE. GIGGLED._

_The world as Mikan knew it fell away in tiny bits and pieces and the world simply stopped rotating on its axis._

_She could practically see the throbbing hearts that had replaced her sister's emerald eyes as she stared at the oh-so-handsome stranger, who, by the way, still hasn't given his name._

_"Lord Mochu, Earl of Hemingway at your service My Lady. May I just say how beautiful you are today." He spoke in that deep baritone before he pressed a kiss onto Sumire's palm._

_Ew, ew, ewwwwwwww._

_Sumire, on the other hand, melted, into a puddle like a popsicle under the searing heat and blinding sunshine._

_Three seconds later, Sumire announced she was going to elope with the dashing Lord much to the horror of everyone present._

_No one dared to go against her, and the entourage watched mournfully as their strong-spirited Princess rode off into the hills, far, far away. _

There you have it, the entire sad tale of how Sumire eloped and left Mikan alone to face the music.

At this point of time, Mikan was busy brain-storming on the different ways she could break the news to the princeling as the carriage bumped its way to the looming palace in the distance.

Even though she had considered going home to tell her parents about the elopement, their advisor, Misaki, who was with them for this trip had decided that they should at least make an appearance in order not to offend the royal family.

Which is _why _Mikan was seated in the plush seat of the Sakura Kingdom's royal family's carriage instead of Sumire, and why she was frantically coming up with excuses for Sumire's 'disappearance'.

"My sister has decided to elope, Your highness." She tried out and promptly winced as the words echoed in the empty space.

"Hotaru!" She wailed out in despair as she tossed herself onto the violet eyed female seated opposite her in the swaying carriage.

"Don't snivel on me, hime." Came the unconcerned reply before a handkerchief was shoved unceremoniously under her nose, a clear command to clean up her face.

Imai Hotaru, the daughter of a duke in the Sakura Kingdoms, was no more a fawning court lady than Princess Mikan was a very bright child.

One had to speculate though the exact reason as to why these two people who would seemingly repel each other like like-pole magnets stuck together like glue (Mikan-hime) on paper (Lady Hotaru).

When asked, all Lady Hotaru would say is that 'she makes good money', which, if one takes into account the glint in her violet eyes as she said it, was very ominous indeed.

A rustle of silk sounded together with the 'thwack' of the wooden base of the fan connecting with a very hard head, Mikan-hime's in this case.

"ITAI!!!" The younger female cried out, cradling her head as though it would lessen the pain. Teary amber eyes lifted to fix on cold violet ones accusingly, her mouth trembling in a thin line.

All the violet-eyed female did in reaction to the famous puppy-eyed look was to sniff disdainfully, unconcerned with the fact that she had just hit without qualm the head of a royalty.

"Don't be such a baby." She said unconcernedly at the same time she reached over to pull back the curtains covering the windows of the moving carriage.

Rain pelted hard onto the grounds as they rumbled past, and in the far distance, glimmering like a diamond in the pitch-black sea, stood the castle of the Hyuuga Kingdom.

She dropped the curtains, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts as she sought out the possible solutions to this situation, completely ignoring the princess, who was looking decidedly unhappy what with the new bump on her head and the fact that her best friend just scolded her.

"Listen." She finally said, overriding Mikan's moping with the single word. "Here is what we will do..."

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The carriages finally rumbled to a stop outside the formidable entrance to the castle.

The rain showed no sign of relenting, instead pelting down so hard that the rain ricocheted off the top of the carriage with the impact of two-pound flour bags.

Lightning streaked crookedly across the angry maroon sky, illuminating everything and making the castle look more forbidding than ever.

Servants rushed down from the rear carriages to shelter the Princess from the rain as she alighted from the royal carriage, the carriage wobbling slightly with each step she took.

What happened next couldn't really be said as her fault. Rather it was the rain and the inborn clumsiness in her that happened.

She slipped.

Frills, petticoats, lace and all flew up into the air as the princess landed with an inelegant splash into the dirty puddle below her with a loud squeal.

So used were the servants to their princess' occasional bouts of clumsiness that they managed to keep a straight face as they helped the hapless and desperately trying not to blush princess onto her feet.

Rubbing her sore bottom discreetly and pushing the crown back from where it was perched precariously on one side of her head, Mikan fought down the blush that threatened to liken her to a ripe tomato as she cast a wary look around her to make sure that _no one _(out of her own people )had seen that.

"I saw that." This was said very smugly by a certain violet-eyed female who was right behind our lovely and graceful princess when said thing happened.

Mikan stuck out a tongue at the girl before, head high, shoulders squared, she proceeded towards the entrance with all the dignity and gracefulness of a member of royalty.

"Hime," Hotaru's voice cut smoothly through the air as she moved to the Princess' side.

"You have a patch on your...," Her pause for the sake of delicacy was belied by a glint in her violet eyes.

Dread filling her heart, Mikan twisted around and looked down at her new pale green ball gown.

There, exactly on her bottom, was a humongous brown patch.

Kami-sama.

Taking pity on the horrified Princess, who had after all been her friend (however unfortunate for Princess Mikan), Lady Hotaru took off the sea-green silk ribbon wrapped around her waist and secured it on the Princess' waist so that the blotch was covered.

Tears of relief gathered into the Princess' amber eyes and she was about to launch herself at the Lady when the snap of the fan stopped her.

"No hugging." With the command, she swept up to the castle with a twirl of her sapphire blue skirts, leaving the Princess to trail after in a very unconventional manner.

"Meannie!"

"Thank you."

By now, the Princess was pouting as she picked up her skirts, elegant be damned, and ran after the violet-eyed female who was already walking down the red carpet, a secret smirk on her face.

Huffing and puffing, she screeched to a stop in front of the scandalized looking herald and glared at Hotaru, prepared to deliver the most blistering of lectures about decorum and 'how-to-treat-your-best-friend'.

"How could you leave me behind like that Hotaru! You meanie! I am your-"

"Princess ..Sumire?" The herald ventured tentatively, taking a wild guess from the circlet on her head.

In the midst of her lecturing, Princess Mikan simply waved a hand at the poor guy, a gesture which roughly covered the range of yes, no, maybe, go away and die.

The herald shrug.

He had to do his job.

"Your highness, if you may step forward…" The man gestured to the curtained archway.

With a look that promised more 'I am your friend!' talks later, a seething Princess Mikan stepped up together with Lady Hotaru, who calmly gave her name to the herald.

"Very well, Your highness, Lady Hotaru. If you please…"

With the nod from the Princess, the two liveried servants standing on either side of curtains drew back the blood-red velvet cloths at the same time, revealing the glamorous ballroom that lay behind.

"Announcing the arrival of her royal Highness, Princess Sumire of the Sakura Kingdom!"

Mikan pasted a smile on her face and started her descent down the stairs.

Wait.

Princess SUMIRE?

She twirled around, prepared to correct that very fatal and incorrect detail when she felt her satin slippers slip on the edge of the stairs and she was falling backwards into nothing.

Her heart rate sped up and incoherent thoughts ran through her mind, one of them being that if she were to die, she would haunt the guy who invented stairs forever.

All the screams and cries of horror were muted, as though there was a shield of water blocking the sounds from coming to her.

She squeezed her eyes shut even as fear wrapped itself around her, forcing her breathing to become erratic.

She waited…and waited…and waited.

No floor.

No horrible sound of breaking bones.

No pain.

Why was the fall taking so damn long?

"Walk much?"

Amber eyes snapped open in accordance to the annoyingly smug voice that seemed to be next to her ears.

And no wonder, for she was pressed back against a chest (a flat one mind you), her arms gripped firmly by a pair of hands.

She wasn't dead.

She was alive.

And, judging from the twitters that were beginning to sound, going to die from acute embarrassment.

Remembering her proximity to her savior, she jerked away quickly and spun around to face him, unknowingly slapping him full in the face with auburn tresses that had somehow slipped from her hairdo.

With an annoyed grunt, the man drew a hand over his face once before settling a heavy-lidded glare at her.

A crimson heavy-lidded glare.

He had the most unusual shade she had ever seen, blood-red eyes that seemed to draw you in. He had a face that was bordering beautiful, like the princes in the storybooks her nanny had used to read to her.

"Done staring?"

The annoyed tone cut across her thoughts and brought Mikan back from her reverie with an unpleasant thud.

Why, this rude rude person!

His heart was probably as black as the scowl on his face!

"I'll report to the King about your rudeness, commoner!" She glared at the man, aggravated even more when an amused look replaced his annoying smirk.

"Go ahead, _Princess._" The sarcasm in his tone was more than she could stand.

In these circumstances, she did the only thing a lady would do.

She lifted her skirts, drew back her feet and kicked him soundly in the shins.

The yelp of pain and the indrawn gasps that resounded in the ballroom was music to her ears.

_Ha! Take that you ill-mannered man! _

"Princess, are you alright?" The worried voice had her turning towards a courtier who was dressed flamboyantly in purple, a bejeweled crown on his head. Behind him, an entourage of guards were following indiscreetly together with a harassed looking man she could only assume to be the advisor.

This could only be the King.

The ill-mannered man forgotten, she sank into a deep curtsy.

"Hai." She answered as she straightened and stared into smiling blue eyes.

"That is good!" The King gave a happy laugh and captured her hands in his. "Now, let me introduce you to my nephew!"

Already, bare minutes to being introduced, she already liked the kind and bubbly king. She was sure that his nephew would be as wonderful as he was _unlike _the boar standing next to them.

A black scowl took over her face as she cast a withering look at the crimson-eyed male that was glowering at her.

"And this is my nephew!" The King gestured to none other than the annoying creature from hell

To say she was shocked was an understatement.

Alas, why _couldn't _she have died then?

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**A/n: sorry about the long wait (winces)...it wasn't meant to take so long (I am really sorry!) **

**GARCA is now open for voting at the GARC Forum (link at my profile :))..please do support! **

**Meanwhile, do review :)**


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